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Jordan Tourism Board marks progress of 3-year strategy

7 Feb 2019

Officially launched in March 1998, the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) is as an independent, public – private sector partnership committed to utilize marketing strategies to brand, position and promote the Jordan tourism product as the destination of choice in the international market. As one of the world’s fastest growing sectors, tourism presents a strong global opportunity for Jordan’s economic growth and sustainability.

USAID BEST began supporting JTB in 2016 to revise its country-based strategy approach towards tourism and instead focus on a theme-based tourism strategy applied specifically to Jordan and its competitive offerings. BEST worked closely with JTB to produce their 2017-2019 3-year strategy that focuses on cultural heritage, adventure travel, wellness, special interest travel (faith, medical) and Meetings, Incentive, Conventions, Exhibitions (MICE) tourism. BEST brought together experts that contributed to this strategy with a vision for an approach that was demand-driven using the experiences and projects here in Jordan.

“We highly appreciate the support we received from USAID BEST to help JTB in launching the current strategy, focusing on niche elements as opposed to a nationwide direction,” said Dr. Arabiyat.

Since the launch of the new strategy, JTB has seen success in several areas.

BEST supported the Jordan Convention Bureau (JCB) through their formation and implementation, assisting JCB in beginning bids for international conferences in 2018. Following BEST support, JCB won bids to host the 5th Middle East Molecular Biology Congress and Exhibition and the ICCA Middle East Forum in October 2018. Other bids won include the Middle East Africa Council of Ophthalmology (MEACO) Congress in Jordan in September 2019, the Mediterranean Forum for Medical & Rehabilitation Medicine 2021 and the JCI Arena Conference Africa and Middle East 2021.

Another success of this new strategy was seen within the adventure tourism segment. As part of BEST support for JTB, BEST hosted AdventureEdu workshops in partnership with the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) in Amman to strengthen local sector capacity to compete successfully in the global adventure travel market. The workshops looked to improve understanding of global market dynamics and prepare participants for effective collaboration with international adventure travel industry partners.